Machine for manufacturing screw bolts and the like by means of a number of shaping stations

ABSTRACT

The machine for manufactring bolts and the like as disclosed includes a frame, a number of shaping stations, more particularly for upsetting and trimming of blanks, said machine comprising a reciprocable main carriage mounted for reciprocation in the frame and carrying upsetting heads adapted to cooperate with dies mounted in a die plate fixed in the frame of the machine, a reciprocable trimming die adapted to cooperate with a trimming punch attached to the die plate, means for reciprocating the main carriage and trimming die to carry out a series of upsetting and trimming operations with respect to workpieces handled by the machine, the main carriage including means for effecting upsetting operations at each stroke and the trimming die effecting a trimming operation on an upset article at each working stroke, and means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage to start the trimming operation prior to the starting of the upsetting operation.

United States Patent [1 1 van de Meerendonk [451 July 24,1973

[75] Inventor: Gerardus C. van de Meerendonk,

Helmond, Netherlands [73] Assignee: Nedschroef Octrooi Maatschappij N.V., I-Ielmond, Netherlands [22] Filed: Mar. 4, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 120,938

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 5, 1970 Netherlands 7003131 [52] US. Cl 10/12 R [51] Int. Cl. B2lk l/44, B23g 9/00 [58] Field of Search 10/11, 12 R, 12.5, 10/15, 19, 47, 48, 49, 57

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 46,434 2/1865 Watkins 10/12 R 2,155,920 4/1939 Alberts lO/12.5 2,315,769 4/1943 Carney 10/12 R 3,101,632 8/1963 Hoyt 10/l2.5 3,263,480 8/1966 Carlson l0/l2.5 3,299,452 1/1967 Van de Meerendonk 10/12 R Primary Examiner--Charles W. Lanham Assistant Examiner-E. M. Combs Attorney-Dean S. Edmonds, David Weild, III, et al.

[57] ABSTRACT The machine for manufactring bolts and the like as disclosed includes a frame, a number of shaping stations, more particularly for upsetting and trimming of blanks, said machine comprising a reciprocable main carriage mounted for reciprocation in the frame and carrying upsetting heads adapted to cooperate with dies mounted in a die plate fixed in the frame of the machine, a reciprocable trimming die adapted to cooperate with a trimming punch attached to the die plate, means for reciprocating the main carriage and trimming die to carry out a series of upsetting and trimming operations with respect to workpieces handled by the machine, the main carriage including means for effecting upsetting operations at each stroke and the trimming die effecting a trimming operation on an upset article at each working stroke, and means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage to start the trimming operation prior to the starting of the upsetting operation.

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RNEYQ) MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING SCREW BOLTS AND THE LIKE BY MEANS OF A NUMBER OF SHAPING STATIONS The present invention relates to a machine for manufacturing bolts and the like article blanks at a number of shaping stations, more particularly for upsetting and trimming of blanks, which machine includes a carriage which is reciprocable by a crankshaft and a connecting rod and has holding members having upsetting heads adapted to co-operate with a die plate fixed in the machine frame and comprising dies, the machine further including a reciprocable trimming die adapted to cooperate with a trimming punch or die attached to the die plate.

A crank-drive is preferably employed for driving the upsetting mechanism of such a machine, because the required large upsetting forces can be exerted thereby.

In a fast running, machine making a greatnumber of strokes per minute, the speed of the carriage is proportionately high, so that the articles are shaped with great speed. This is only favourable for the stations in which eg the heads are upset or reduction takes place. In the station, however, in which the trimming takes place, said high speed is unfavourable, because the speed with which the superfluous material is cut off becomes too high so that the trimming tool only has a-reduced service life.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine in which the trimming operation is distributed over a longer period of time than is possible with the usual crank-drive.

In a machine according to the present invention there is a mechanism which at the beginning of the working stroke of the carriage starts the operation of the trimming die, such that the trimming operation is distributed over a greater portion of the working stroke of the carriage and therefore takes place with a slower rate than the upsetting operation.

In an embodiment of the machine according to the invention an auxiliary carriage is provided in the reciprocable carriage, the holding member for the trimming. die being attached to said auxiliary carriage, the reciprocable main carriage being provided with a pivotable two-armed lever, one arm of which is connected with the auxiliary carriage and the other arm being provided with a roller or the like which can co-operate with a cam member that is adjustably connected with the machine frame.

According to a further feature of the invention, the cam member may comprise a rectilinear portion and a portion with downward inclination, an adjustment being possible in such a way that said rectilinear portion always extends parallel to the direction of movement of the main carriage and that said inclined portion provides the auxiliary carriage with a reduced-running movement.

In another embodiment of the machine according to the present invention, the main crankshaft is provided with a cam against which a portion of the auxiliary carriage provided with a roller or the like is pressed by a spring means or the like, the shape and the position of said cam being. selected in such a way that the moment of the beginning of the trimming operation is earlier than the moment of the beginning of the upsetting opcration and that the trimming operation is slower than the upsetting operation.

It is also possible to arrange the trimming mechanism of the auxiliary carriage such that the trimming punch, which is normally fixed in the die block, is adapted to make a restricted reciprocatory movement during the trimming operation so the trimming speed is thereby decreased.

In the accompanying drawings embodiments of the machine according to the invention are shown by way of example.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the movement of the main carriage and of the auxiliary carriage of a machine embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view of one embodiment of the machine, the main carriage being in its most forward position and the upsetting heads abutting the dies, the auxiliary carriage also being in its forward position;

FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the machine along the line IIIIII in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view like that of FIG. 3, but showing the main and auxiliary carriages in their rearward positions;

FIG. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the machine along line V-V in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the machine.

The machine illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5 of the drawings comprises a crankshaft l with a crank 2 and connecting rod 3 connected to a main carriage 4 by means of a pin 5, so that the main carriage 4 is adapted to make one reciprocating movement for each revolution of the crankshaft l in the frame 6.

The main carriage 4 has guiding means 7 and 8. Various headholding means 9 are attached to the carriage 4, exchangeable upsetting heads 10 being positioned in the holdingmeans 9. Dies ll co-operating with the upsetting heads 10 are attached to a die plate 12 carried by the frame 6 of the machine.

In the dies 11 there are received moveable ejecting pins 13 which are operated by ejecting arms 14 movable by ejecting cams 15 carried by a shaft 16, the movement of said shaft 16 being derived from the crankshaft 1.

An auxiliary carriage 17, shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, is movable in the main carriage 4. Holding means 18 attached to the auxiliary carriage 17 carries an exchangeable trimming die 19 that is adapted to cooperate with a trimming punch or die 20 attached to the die plate 12.

The auxiliary carriage 17 receives a reciprocating movement from a bell-crank lever 21 pivotable on a pivot 22 inbearings 23 in the main carriage 4. One arm of the bell-crank lever 21 is connected with the auxiliary carriage 17 by means of a shiftable block 24 and the-other arm has a roller 25 that moves, when the main carriage 4 moves, over a cam means 26 adjustable in the frame 6, said cam means 26' comprising a straight portion 27 and a downwardly inclined portion 28 (FIG. 3). A tension spring 29 takes care that the roller 25 is always maintained on the cam means 27 and 28.

Operation takes place as follows:

When blanks (not shown) are positioned in front of the dies 11 and 20 in the usual way, the main carriage 4 and auxiliary carriage 17 make a forward movement from the position shown in FIG. 4. The roller 25 runs over the straight upper part 27 of the cam 26 during its first portion of its forward movement so that the auxiliary carriage 17 is not displaced in the main carriage 4 and therefore moves with the same speed as the main carriagev When, however, the roller 25 arrives at the downwardly inclined portion 28 of the cam, the lever 21 is urged to rotate about its pivot 22, so that the upper part of said lever 21, attached to the auxiliary carriage 17, moves to the left relative to the main carriage 4 and thereby also the auxiliary carriage moves relative to the main carriage 4 as seen in the drawings. This relative movement lasts until the main carriage 4 and the auxiliary carriage 17 arrive at their foremost positions as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, at which all upsetting heads abut against the heads of the bolt blanks shown in the dies 11. Then also the trimming die 19, after having trimmed the head of the bolt blank in punch or die 20, is against the trimming punch 20. At that moment the ejection pin 13 in the die pushes the trimmed bolt blank from that die and through the trimming die 19 so that it is removed from the machine through a pipe 30.

For adjusting the moment at which the auxiliary carriage starts or finishes its movement with regard to the movement of the main carriage, among other things depending upon the height of the heads of the articles to be made, the cam 26 can be adjusted longitudinally by means of adjusting screwbolts 31 and 32, shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Another embodiment for moving the auxiliary carriage with the trimming die relatively to the main carriage is shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment the auxiliary carriage 170 receives its movement from a cam 33 on the crankshaft la. Said shaft provides the auxiliary carriage with a reciprocating movement through the roller 34 and the also reciprocating main carriage 4a, the spring 35 producing a pressure urging the roller to follow the cam.

The starting moment of the trimming operation is determined by the shape of the cam. Said operation, therefore, is at least partially independent of the movement of the main carriage, which is brought about in this embodiment in the usual way by means of a crank and a connecting rod.

in FIG. 1 one revolution (360) of the machine crankshaft is indicated by the reference a, and b indicates the stroke of the main carriage 4 or 4a, c being the height of the head of the article, 1 being the starting point of the trimming operation in the known machines, ll being the starting point of the trimming operation in a machine embodying the present invention and d being the most forward position of the carriage 4.

I claim:

1. A machine for manufacturing bolts and the like including a frame, a number of shaping stations, more particularly for upsetting and trimming of blanks, said machine comprising a reciprocable main carriage mounted for reciprocation in the frame and carrying upsetting heads adapted to cooperate with dies mounted in a die plate fixed in the frame of the machine, a reciprocable trimming die adapted to cooperate with a trimming punch attached to the die plate, means for reciprocating the main carriage and trimming die to carry out a series of upsetting and trimming operations with respect to workpieces handled by the machine, the main carriage including means for effecting upsetting operations at each stroke and the trimming die effecting a trimming operation on an upset article at each working stroke, and means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage to start the trimming operation prior to the starting of the upsetting operation.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, including an auxiliary carriage mounted on said main carriage for reciprocation therewith, means on said auxiliary carriage for holding said trimming die, and wherein the means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage includes means for retarding the forward movement of the auxiliary carriage during a portion of the forward movement of the main carriage.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, including a bellcrank lever pivoted to the main carriage having one arm connected with the auxiliary carriage, a cam means mounted on the frame along which the other arm of the bell-crank lever operates as the carriages are moved toward and away from the die plate.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the said cam means comprises a rectilinear portion extending parallel to the direction of movement of the main carriage and a downwardly inclined portion for varying the movement of the auxiliary carriage relative to that of the main carriage.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the machine includes a main shaft and wherein the means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage includes a cam on the main shaft for varying the movement of the trimming die relative to that of the main carriage during each of the working strokes, said cam having a shape arranged to start the beginning of the trimming operation earlier than the beginning of the upsetting operation. 

1. A machine for manufacturing bolts and the like including a frame, a number of shaping stations, more particularly for upsetting and trimming of blanks, said machine comprising a reciprocable main carriage mounted for reciprocation in the frame and carrying upsetting heads adapted to cooperate with dies mounted in a die plate fixed in the frame of the machine, a reciprocable trimming die adapted to cooperate with a trimming punch attached to the die plate, means for reciprocating the main carriage and trimming die to carry out a series of upsetting and trimming operations with respect to workpieces handled by the machine, the main carriage including means for effecting upsetting operations at each stroke and the trimming die effecting a trimming operation on an upset article at each working stroke, and means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage to start the trimming operation prior to the starting of the upsetting operation.
 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, including an auxiliary carriage mounted on said main carriage for reciprocation therewith, means on said auxiliary carriage for holding said trimming die, and wherein tHe means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage includes means for retarding the forward movement of the auxiliary carriage during a portion of the forward movement of the main carriage.
 3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, including a bell-crank lever pivoted to the main carriage having one arm connected with the auxiliary carriage, a cam means mounted on the frame along which the other arm of the bell-crank lever operates as the carriages are moved toward and away from the die plate.
 4. A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the said cam means comprises a rectilinear portion extending parallel to the direction of movement of the main carriage and a downwardly inclined portion for varying the movement of the auxiliary carriage relative to that of the main carriage.
 5. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the machine includes a main shaft and wherein the means for varying the stroke of the trimming die relative to the stroke of the main carriage includes a cam on the main shaft for varying the movement of the trimming die relative to that of the main carriage during each of the working strokes, said cam having a shape arranged to start the beginning of the trimming operation earlier than the beginning of the upsetting operation. 